longtail

Long tail refers to the portion of a distribution where many items exist with low frequency, which collectively can account for a substantial share of activity or revenue. In statistics, a long-tail distribution is heavy-tailed, with a slower decline in frequency as value increases, often described by power laws or Zipf-like behavior. In business, the term was popularized by Chris Anderson in 2004 to describe markets where demand is dispersed across a large number of niche items rather than concentrated on a few best-sellers. The internet and digital distribution have made the long tail more accessible by lowering search costs, inventory constraints, and marginal costs for digital goods.

In practice, the long tail is exploited by platforms that offer vast catalogs and use search, recommendation, and personalization to help users discover niche offerings. Commerce, media streaming, and sharing economies benefit when many products or items each sell a small amount but together constitute a large market. The head items can drive traffic and brand, while the tail expands total revenue and resilience.

Beyond economics, the term long tail is also used descriptively for objects with elongated tails and for place names of various species, such as the long-tailed tit, a passerine bird. The phrase remains a flexible shorthand in both technical and everyday language to contrast concentrated popularity with dispersed, cumulative demand.